Probing magnetic orbitals and Berry curvature with circular dichroism in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) can probe localized excitations at selected atoms in materials, including particle-hole transitions between the valence and conduction bands. These transitions are governed by fundamental properties of the corresponding Bloch wave functions, including orbital and magnetic degrees of freedom, and quantum geometric properties such as the Berry curvature. In particular, orbital angular momentum (OAM), which is closely linked to the Berry curvature, can exhibit a nontrivial momentum dependence. We demonstrate how information on such OAM textures can be extracted from the circular dichroism in RIXS. Based on accurate modeling with a first-principles treatment of the key ingredient-the light-matter interaction-we simulate dichroic RIXS spectra for the prototypical transition-metal dichalcogenide MoSe₂ and the two-dimensional topological insulator 1T^'-MoS₂. Guided by an intuitive picture of the optical selection rules, we discuss how the momentum-dependent OAM manifests itself in the dichroic RIXS signal if one controls the momentum transfer. Our calculations are performed for typical experimental geometries and parameter regimes, and demonstrate the possibility of observing the predicted circular dichroism in forthcoming experiments. Thus, our work establishes a new avenue for observing Berry curvature and topological states in quantum materials.